Queen and drone trap



(No Model.)

G. WfWILLIAMs. QUEEN AND DRONB TRAP.

UNITED STATES GEORGE w. WILLIAMS, OE

HUMANSVILLE, MISSOURI.

QUEEN AND DRONE TRAP.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 593,712, datedNovember- 16, 1897.

Applieationled April 15, 1897. Serial No. 632,312. (No model.) Y i Toall whom it may concern.-

Y Be it known that I, GEORGE W. WILLIAMS, a citizen of the UnitedStates, residing at Humansville, in the county of Polk and State ofMissouri, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Queen andDrone Traps; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear,and exact description of the invention, such as will enable othersskilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the Thisinvention relates to certain new andv useful improvements in beehiveappliances; and it consists, substantially, in such features ofconstruction, arrangements, and combina-V tion of parts as willhereinafter be more particularly described.

It is well` known that in the swarming of bees the worker'beeswillalways follow Ithe queen bee wherever she may lead them, and in order torehive the worker bees it is usual in many instances to catch the queenbee and place her in the new hive ready for the purpose, to which newhivel the worker bees will also go in their endeavor or search to findthe queen bee. `In some cases it isusual to catch the queen bee in thehand and then place her in the hive, .while in other cases specialdevices or appliances are employed for the purpose. Whatever the meansemployed, however, it has not infrequently happened herctofore that thequeen bee has been injured, and also it has not infrequently happenedthat she has escaped altogether, thus occasioning loss of the entireswarm and the attendant bad results which follow therefrom.

A number of devices have heretofore been devised for the purpose ofcatching the queen bee and returning her to or placing her in the hive;but in many instances such devices are eumbersome,besides beingineffective and unreliable. l

It is therefore the object of the present invention to provide eectiveand reliable means for preventing the iiight of the queen bee with theswarm and to insure her entrance into the new hive, as Well also as thesure return ofthe swarm to such hive.

A further object of said invention is to aocor'nplish the detention ofsaid queen bee with- 4an outer side elevation thereof.

pose.

out harm or injury thereto, and also to provide means for readilycatching her for transportation to any place desired.

These and other objects -I attain by the means illustrated in theaccompanying drawings, in which* Figure 1 is an inner side elevation ofa beehive appliance constructed and arranged in accordance with myinvention, and Fig. 2 is Fig. 3 is a longitudinal sectional viewtakenabout centrally'. Fig. 4 is a transverse sectional view talfen throughone of the cones, and Fig. 5 is an end view to show the slide-coveredopening through which the queen bee is caught for the purpose ofbeingftaken 'away or for any other purpose.

My invention is capable of a great many different embodiments in use,and while I have. herein shown a certain preferred embodiment it is tobe understood that I am not limited thereto in detail, but am at libertyto make such immaterialchanges in the general construction andarrangement of parts as may be demanded by the exigencies of anyparticular case. Y

. Thus in the drawings, A Arepresents as a whole what may be termed atrap or cage, and which in its general shape is approximatelyrectangular and is of length or dimensions corresponding to the size ofthe beehive in connection with which it is to be used. This trap or cageis in the main preferably, though not essentially, constructed of wood,and while it may be attached to the hive in different ways I preferablyprovide a projection or bracket a at each end thereof for the pur- Said.trap or. cage is constructed with end portions I I,' a top portion ZJ,and a bottomA portion e, and it is practically divided for itswholelength into an .upper compartment d anda lower compartment e, thehorizontal shelf or portion f, which divides or separates thesecompartments, being provided with any desired number of openings c,three being shown in the present instance. The entire front of said trapor cage is closed by reticulated metal-work h, leaving numerous openingst' sufticiently large Afor the passage therethroughv of .the.workerbees, and connecting the end portions Z Z on the inner side of the cageis a strip j, said strip being arranged to leave a space 7c between theupper edge of the same and the top portion b, already referred to. Saidspace is closed at will by means of a metal slide B, which works in agroove Z in the upper edge of said stripj` and a similar groove in theunder side of the top b. Said slide also at one end passes through aslot or guide in the adjacent end piece I, and it is bent to constitutea grip portion by which the slide is manipulated to be moved in and outas required in the use of the device and as will hereinafter more fullyappear. eConnecting the lower edge of stripj with the inner edge of thehorizontal shelf or portion f is a similar open or reticulated strip nof metal or other similar material, and in one of the end pieces I is anopening o, leading into the upper compartment d of the cage, the saidopening being closed at will by a suitable hinged or pivoted Vslide orplate p. (Shown in the end view.)

As will be observed, the horizontal shelf or partition f is providedwith openings C, and working in longitudinal guides 3 3 on the nnderside of the said shelf or partition is a slide D, also having openingsE, which in one position of the slide register with the openings C inthe shelf, but which when the slide is drawn to one side are carried outof registry or alinement with said openings C, and the openings in theshelf are then closed, so as to completely cut oft communication betweenthe compartments d c. Located on top of the said shelf or partition fandsurrounding the openings C therein are wire-gauze cones F, having openends through which the queen bee passes into the upper compartment d inher eiforts to find an outlet or passage with the swarm.

As thus constructed, my improved cage or trap is secured to a part ofthe bcehive in any suitable manner, with the compartment d uppermost andwith the slides B and p closed and the slide D in such position that theopenings E therein register with the openings C in the shelf orpartition f. In this position the cones F extend upward, and then as theswarming from the hive takes place all of the bees will pass into thelower compartment c and the worker' bees will gain an exit through theopenings in the front of the cage, while the queen and drone bees aredetained and prevented from flight or passage through the openings inythe front of the cage on account of being too large to pass through saidopenings. The queen bee will, however, find passage into the uppercompartment d through the larger openings in the shelf f and its slide,and on passing up through any one of the cones she of course cannotreadily get back, and she thus becomes caught or trapped. lVhen thuscaught in the upper compartlnent d of the cage, the. operator detachesthe cage from the hive and closes the slide D. IIe then reverses orinverts the cage or trap and attaches it to the new hive, all ready forthe purpose, the attachment being so made that when the slide I3 isdrawn out there is free or open communication between the compartment dand the hive. In this way the queen bee finds her way into the new hive,and by this time she has been missed by the worker bees in their iiightand the swarm returns to the old site to iind her, the old hive beingremoved to one side and the new hive set in its place and left until thebees return. On their return the worker bees also find their way intothe new hive through the open front of the cage in an obvious manner.

If the operator is afraid the swarm might leave, as theysometimes doafter being hived, leave the inverted trap attached to the hive, withthe slide B draw-n out, and if the bees come out to go olf the queencannot get out, neither can she trap herself, as slide D is closed, andon the return of the bees she will go back with them into the hive.

Should it be desired to get hold of the queen bee by which to carry heraway, it is simply necessary to cause her to pass into the uppercompartment d, and then by throwing a cloth over the cage so as todarken the interior and opening the slide p she will be attracted-to theopening o by the light entering the same and she will attempt to-passout of the opening, when she can be caught by a small cage or any otherdevice secured across the open ing for the purpose.

It will be seen from the foregoing that the queen bee is caught withouthaving to handle her, and it will be understood that the drones can becaught in the same way. It

vwill also be seen that the worker bees can pass in and out of the hiveno matter in what position the cage or trap may be in. These and otheradvantages will appear without further description. It will be seen thatthe perforated or reticulated front portion of the cage is made to turninward somewhat at the lower edge, so as to enable a greater number ofopenings to be presented for the .passage of the worker bees, and itwill also be understood that this part as well as the remaining parts ofmy improved device could be altered in immaterial respects withoutdeparting from the spirit of my invention.

The advantage of a reversible or invertible appliance of this kind isthat the worker becs are first allowed to pass outin swarm and the queenbee is caught or held captive, and then when the trap is reversed orinverted and the slide B drawn out the queen bee is given direct accessor passage to the new hive, and when the worker bees return they alsogain access to the new hive through the same passage. Thus the queen beedoes not have to be caught in the hand for the purpose of beingtransferred to the new hive, as in many former instances. Furthermore,when the slide B is withdrawn, so as to enable the queen bee to passinto the new hive, the entrance of the returning worker bees is not cutolf, as with some former devices on this subject, and the trap does nothave to be removed to per IOO IIO

cage ortrap having perforations or openings at the front for the passageof the worker bees, and constructed of an upper and lower compartment, aslide for opening and closing the upper compartment at the inner side, apartition separating the compartments and provided with openings for thepassage of the queen bee, open-ended cones at said openings and a slidefor controlling said openings, substantially as described.

3. An appliance for beehives, comprisinga trap or cage having openingsor perforations at the front for the passage of the worker bees, andconstructed of an upper and lower compartment, a horizontal partitionseparating the compartments and provided with openings for the passageof the queen bee, openended cones at Isaid openings, a slide havingcorresponding openings and Working in guides on the partition, and alongitudinally-movable slide for opening and closing the uppercompartment at the inner side of the cage,

` substantially as described.

4. An appliance for beehives, comprising a cage or vtrap'having openingsat the front for the passage of the bees, andv constructed of an upperand lower compartment, the former of which `is provided at one end withan opening closed by-a slide, a partition separating the compartmentsand provided with openings for the passage of the queen bee, open-endedcones at said openings, a slide for opening and closing the uppercompartment at the innerside of the cage, and a slide having openingscorresponding to those in the partition, and vworking in suitableguides, substantially as described.

5. An appliance for beehivesv comprising a reversible or invertible traphaving openings in the front for the passage of the worker bees, andconstructed of an upper and lower compartment, a partition separatingsaid compartments, and provided with openings for the passage of thequeen bee, open-ended gauze cones surrounding said latter openings inthe upper compartment, a slide alsol having corresponding openings andworking on the under side of the partition, and a slide for opening andclosing at will the inner side of said upper compartment, substantiallyas described.

6. An appliance for beehives comprising a reversible or invertible traphaving openings in the front for the passage of the worker bees andconstructed with an upper and lower compartment, a partition separatingthe compartments and having enlarged openings for the passage of thequeen bee, open-ended gauze cones surrounding said openings, a slide onthe partition having corresponding openings, a strip at the inner sideof the cage and a perforated plate closing the space between said stripand the inner edge of the partition, and a slide for opening and closingthe upper compartment at the inner side thereof, substantially asdescribed.

7. An appliance for beehives comprising a reversible or invertible cageor trap having openings in the front for the passage of the worker bees,and constructed of an upper and lower compartment, a slide for openingand closing the upper compartment at the inner side of the trap, apartition separating the compartments and having enlarged openings forthe passage of the queen bee, perforated and open-ended conessurrounding said openings located in the upper compartment, and a slideon the partition having corresponding openings, substantially as shown'and described.

In'testimony whereof I afliX my signature in presence of two witnesses.

GEORGE W. WILLIAMS.

Witnesses:

JAMES L. MARTIN, E. M. MGLANE.

